8:51am

The Commonwealth

Does Kentucky Law Exempt A Same-Sex Spouse From Testifying?

A Kentucky judge is seeking input from the state attorney general's office before deciding whether a law exempting spouses from testifying against each other applies to two women in a civil union from Vermont. Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Susan Schultz Gibson says the attorney general's office should be given a chance to respond.

The case has become the first legal test in the state over forcing same-sex partners to testify against each other.

Prosecutors say Geneva Case heard her spouse, Bobbie Joe Clary, admit to killing a man two years ago and saw her clean blood out of the man's van and abandon it in Southern Indiana. Case has told the prosecution she will not testify, invoking the "Husband-Wife" privilege under state law, according to court records.